Russia Puts Submarine Trials on Hold After Bulava Failure

Russia has put trials of two nuclear subs on hold following an unsuccessful launch of a Bulava submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM) on Friday, a Russian defense ministry spokesman said on Saturday.

“The day before, a Bulava SLBM was fired toward the Kura test site in Kamchatka [in Far East] during state trials of the Alexander Nevsky nuclear-powered submarine in the White Sea,” the spokesman told journalists, adding that the rocket experienced a malfunction in one of its systems on the second minute of the flight.

Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu ordered to halt state trials of the Borey-class Alexander Nevsky and the Vladimir Monomakh submarines, designed to carry Bulava, and to hold five additional launches of the troubled SLBM, the spokesman said.

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